The Defense Department is trying to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to vet mobile applications for security gaps and make it easier for fledgling companies to do business with the Pentagon.
On Thursday, the Defense Information Systems Agency asked tech experts to submit white papers for a platform that would let the Pentagon more efficiently build and certify applications for mobile devices. The platform, called the Mobility Enablement Prototype, would provide a secure environment where developers could build apps for mobile devices and include tools that check them against the Pentagon’s software security frameworks.
It often takes DISA around four months to ensure new applications meet its cyber standards, but by doing away with manual compliance checks, the platform could eventually let officials complete the process in a single day, according to DISA Services Development Director Brian Hermann. The system would also help the Pentagon more rapidly approve and deploy software updates, which would improve security across the enterprise.
“We’d really like to get to a model where it’s near real-time vetting of the applications so we can get really speedy updates to the warfighter and mission partners,” Hermann said in an interview with Nextgov. “Not only do we want to make it easier for program offices to deliver capabilities, we want ... the vetting folks to know the security status and not have a big manual process associated with that vetting.”
In 2014, DISA launched a digital app store that let employees download software tools directly to their mobile devices. While ..
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